Self-opening bottle caps

ABSTRACT

A self-opening bottle cap with a central depression defined by a raised peripheral ridge over the bead of the bottle that has a narrow U-shaped or V-shaped tab extending across the greater part of its upper surface and joined to the remainder of the upper surface, and to the skirt on each side by partially cut lines of increased weakness in the metal of the cap. The ridge is flattened when applied to the bead. When the cap is to be removed this weakened strip is either peeled off by means of a rotatable key or pulled off by means of a ring, the key or the ring having been previously riveted to one end of the removable tab. The key is pivotable in the horizontal plane. The cap will then spring partly open of its own accord and can be completely removed by the fingers of one hand without the use of any other tool.

United States Patent [72] lnventors Jose A. Bustamante Agua 868 Jardiles del Pedregal, Mexico City, 20;

Joaquin lturriaga, Cerro de Sta. Isabel I23, Frac. Campestre Churubusco, Mexico City,

[54] SELF-OPENING BOTTLE CAPS 4 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl. 215146 A 865d 43/02 [50] Field of Search 2l5/46.5, 39; 220/54 Primary Examiner-George T. Hall Attorneys-Sheldon l. Cohen and Krafft & Wells ABSTRACT: A self-opening bottle cap with a central depression defined by a raised peripheral ridge over the bead of the bottle that has a narrow U-shaped or V-shaped tab extending across the greater part of its upper surface and joined to the remainder of the upper surface, and to the skirt on each side by partially cut lines of increased weakness in the metal of the cap. The ridge is flattened when applied to the bead. When the cap is to be removed this weakened strip is either peeled off by means of a rotatable key or pulled ofi' by means of a ring, the key or the ring having been previously riveted to one end of the removable tab. The key is pivotable in the horizontal plane. The cap will then spring partly open of its own accord and can be completely removed by the fingers of one hand without the use of any other tool.

PATENTEDAUGIOIBYI 3598.272

INVENTORS Jas A. BusTamanfe A. Joaquin [fur/"i0 0 Flores BY 7 y w ATTORNEYS Applicants claim priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 for applications Ser. Nos. 104,773; 105,127; 105,187 and 110,989, filed in the Mexican Patent Office respectively on July. 24, 1968;

Aug. 9, 1968;Aug. 12,1968 and May 8,1969.

' {BACKG OU D OF THE INvEN IoN The field of the invention is closures for bottles and jars,

particularly opening devices for cap closures.

. Metal bottle cap closures having a cork gasket and a corrugated flange are used extensively in the automatic bottling and capping of beer and soft drinks. The prior art bottle caps have generally required a special opener for removing the caps, but recently the state of the art was advanced by the introduction of caps with screw threads which facilitate the hand removal of the caps. I

The state of the art of the linings for closures has also improved by the use of injection-molded polypropylene, polyethylene and other plastic sealing materials.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The removable tab 7 can be either V-shaped with diverging sides, or can be U-shaped with parallel sides, and can be formed either across the middle of the cap, or slightly to one side of the middle, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, to permit the use of a shorter key.

The lines 8 of increased weakness which are impressed by sharp edges part way into the metal of the cap should be ex tended to the periphery of the skirt and this should be done during the original stamping operation before the skirt is bent down. v

After the skirthas been bent down,a vinyl plastic gasket 9 can be vulcanized to the inner metal surface of the cap before the gasket 3 is inserted. This will not only strengthen the metal of the cap along the weakened lines 8 but will also prevent escape of gaseous contents from the interior of the bottles.

According to the present invention, bottle caps are easily In FIGS. 6 to 9 the caps are not provided with raised ridges 4, and longer keys 5' or rings 6 of larger diameter having the same diameter as the cap are used. Whensuch caps are'used with standardized equipment, then the skirts 2' in FIGS. 6 to 9 are slightly narrower than those of FIGS. 2 to 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 4, encircling the outer surface of the cap, a ridge has been raised and a thin T-shaped key has been added which has been riveted to the rounded end of a U-shaped tab that has been traced and partially cut into I the metal a little off center across the outer surface of the botcap bymeans of an attached rotatable key, or torn off by I meari's of an attached ring so that the cap will then either springopen of itsown accord or will-become sufficiently disengaged from the top of the bottle. 7

' DESCRIPTION or THE DRAW G I he-invention will now be described more in detail with 2 reference tothe drawing wherein:

tle cap.

The aforementioned ridge will automatically be eliminated at the precise moment in which the cap is placed on the bottle, due to the effects of the pressure exerted upon it by the capping machine,.thus leaving the cap, once placed on the bottle, with its original and normaliappearance, making the T'- V shaped keycompletelyaccessible to be displaced towards one 'FIGJ is asection through abott le cap of the kind that is used in FIGS. 2 and 5; o

FIGS. 2 and 4' show the upper end of a bottle with the cap on it before and during removal of the cap by means of a rotatable key riveted to one end of the removable tab;

FIGS. 3 and 5 show the upper-end of a bottle with the cap I on it before and during'removal of the cap by means of a pull ring riveted to one end of theremovable tab;

FIGS. 6 to 9 are modifications of FIGS. 2m 5 respectively;

I and FIG. 10 shows the upper end of the bottle with the cap of any of the preceding figures after removal of the tab.

FIG. 1 shows in section a bottle cap '1 of the usual kind with a depending skirt 2 adapted to be crimped upon the upper end of a bottle by means of a capping machine, but also provided ing entangled with each other while the bottle caps are circulating within the feed hoppers during their alignment with one another for entering the sliding track.

FIGS. 2 to 5 show the cap of FIG. I equipped with either a key 5 or a ring 6, FIGS. 2 and 3 showing the caps'immediately after being positioned on the bottles while FIGS. 4 and 5 show the same caps during removal of the tab 7 in' preparation for removal of the remainder of the cap from the mouth of the bottle. FIGS. 4 and 5 no longer show the raised ridge 4 because thelatter has beenpressed down flat by the capping machine during application of the caps to the bottles.

side and turned by the fingers in such a way that the partially cut U-shaped tab is rolled around the key. By removing it completely, the bottle cap is weakened to such a degree that it can be displaced from the bottle by a slight upward push of the fingers.

The reasons which make necessary the raising of the ridge on the outer surface of the bottle cap are two: the first is to reduce the thickness of the bottle cap to such a size that, despite the addition of the T-shaped key on its outer surface, it remains within the standard dimensions required by the feed hoppers and the sliding tracks of the bottle-capping machines now in use. The second reason for placing the key within the depression made by the cap' is that, when the bottle caps are circulating within the feed hoppers to be'aligned in the correct position for entering the sliding track, there will be no possibility of the keys becoming entangled with each other.

Even though the T-shaped key has been riveted to the cap. this latter continues to be hermetically sealed and is able to resist the normal pressure due to the gasket of plastic material which it contains.

According to the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 5, a ridge has been raised in the cap which encircles its outer surface and an aluminum ring having the same dimensions as the inner surouter surface of the bottle cap. This same V-shaped tab that has been traced and partially cut into the metal of the bottle cap surrounds the rivet at itsnarrower end; its wider side ending precisely at the outermost edge of the bottles skirt.

The ridge of this particular bottle cap is the consequence of the one-sixteenth of an inch depression of the center of the cap in order to accommodate the one-sixteenth of an inch aluminum ring' that goes in it and thereby preserve the original and standard'one-quarter of an inch thickness of the bottle cap. This is imperative so that the caps will have no difficulty inpassing through the standard size sliding tracks of the standard bottle-capping machinesnow in use.

Another advantage of placing the ring within the depression made on the cap is that, when the bottle caps are circulating within the feed hoppers to be aligned in the correct position for entering into the sliding track, there will be no possibility of the rings becoming entangled with each other.

The aforementioned ridge will automatically be eliminated at the precise moment in which the cap is placed on the bottle due to the effects of the pressure exerted on it by the capping machine, leaving the cap, once placed on the bottle, with its original and normal appearance, making the ring completely accessible to be manipulated by the fingers.

The self-opening bottle cap illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 8 has on the outer surface of the cap a T-shaped key whose sides have been rounded off and the base of the T is riveted a little beyond the end of a V-shaped tab that has been traced and partially cut into the metal. On the interior of the cap, a vinyl plastic gasket has been vulcanized to the metal.

By displacing the key sidewise, it is in the correct position to be rotated with the fingers, thereby ripping and removing the tab and part of the thin vinyl plastic gasket by wrapping it around the key. By this simple process, the bottle has been opened without the need of any kind of bottle opener whatsoever.

FIGS. 7 and 9 show an embodiment of a self-opening cap that differs from the rest due to the fact that, on its outer surface, a ring having the same dimensions as the cap has been placed. This ring has been riveted to a metal tab which has been traced and partially cut into the metal and which extends from the point where it has been riveted to the outermost edge of the skirt of the bottle cap.

On the inner surface of this self-opening bottle cap there is a plastic gasket which adheres perfectly to the cap and whose thickness is approximately 1 mm.

By inserting one finger in the ring and pulling it upward, one can easily rip the tab that had been traced and partially cut into the metal and thereby remove it. By this simple process, the beer or soft drink bottle has been opened without the need of any kind of bottle opener whatsoever.

lCLAlM:

l. A bottle cap with a downwardly bent skirt adapted to be crimped over a bead around the upper edge of a bottle, said cap having lines of weakness extending across the greater part of the top of said cap and downwardly along the skirt to the edge of the latter to provide a readily removable tab, in combination with a T-shaped appendage riveted to the inner end of the tab, said appendage pivotable in the horizontal plane to provide a manually operable device for complete removal of the tab and the included portion of the skirt to permit the remainder of said cap to loosen its hold on the neck of said bottle sufficiently to permit complete removal of the remainder of the cap by pushing it away manually, said cap having a central depression defined by a raised peripheral ridge over said bead and a central recess for said manually operable appendage, said ridge being pressed flat during application of said cap to said bead.

2. The bottle cap of claim 1, having a synthetic resin lining vulcanized to the inner surface of the cap and adapted to have the underlying portion of it severed by the tab when the latter is removed.

3. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein the lines of weakness are parallel.

4. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein the lines of weakness are diverging. 

1. A bottle cap with a downwardly bent skirt adapted to be crimped over a bead around the upper edge of a bottle, said cap having lines of weakness extending across the greater part of the top of said cap and downwardly along the skirt to the edge of the latter to provide a readily removable tab, in combinAtion with a T-shaped appendage riveted to the inner end of the tab, said appendage pivotable in the horizontal plane to provide a manually operable device for complete removal of the tab and the included portion of the skirt to permit the remainder of said cap to loosen its hold on the neck of said bottle sufficiently to permit complete removal of the remainder of the cap by pushing it away manually, said cap having a central depression defined by a raised peripheral ridge over said bead and a central recess for said manually operable appendage, said ridge being pressed flat during application of said cap to said bead.
 2. The bottle cap of claim 1, having a synthetic resin lining vulcanized to the inner surface of the cap and adapted to have the underlying portion of it severed by the tab when the latter is removed.
 3. The bottle cap of claim 1, wherein the lines of weakness are parallel.
 4. The bottle cap of claim 1, wherein the lines of weakness are diverging. 